Carl Pohlad
Encyclopedia
Carl R. Pohlad was a successful financier
and the owner of the Minnesota Twins
baseball franchise from 1984 (succeeding Calvin Griffith
) until his death in 2009.
. He grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa
and graduated from Valley High School in West Des Moines in 1934. He attended and played football for Compton Junior College in Southern California for a short time. Bing Crosby
saw him play football and recruited him to play for his alma mater Gonzaga University
in Washington. Pohlad attended Gonzaga but dropped out after the football season of his senior year.
He was drafted to serve in WWII
serving from 1943 to 1946. During his time in the service, he fought in Europe
, spending some time in France
, Germany
, and Austria
. Pohlad was scheduled to participate in the Normandy Invasion (D-Day
), but a case of Poison Oak
kept him out of the invasion's early stages. He was wounded in battle, and was awarded the Purple Heart
and a Bronze Star Medal
.
After the war he returned to Iowa, married Eloise O'Rourke Pohlad and later moved to Edina, Minnesota
.
Pohlad's wife, Eloise, died in 2003. They had three sons during their 56-year marriage: James, Robert, and William, who all serve as Executive Board Members of the Minnesota Twins
. After the Depression, he began investing in community banks. Over several decades, he built a banking empire. He bought deposits from The Midwest Federal Savings & Loan
after its collapse in 1989. Eventually he sold his bank Marquette Bank
to Wells Fargo
in 2002. In 2006 Forbes
ranked him tied for the 107th richest person in the United States
, with a net worth of 2.6 billion dollars.
Pohlad became president of the Twin City Rapid Transit
(the Minneapolis St. Paul bus and streetcar company) saving it from Fred A. Ossanna (who was convicted in 1960 of illegally taking personal profit from the company). Pohlad was also the Vice President of Pohlad Companies, which owns several companies both large and small, including Marquette Financial Companies, United Properties, River Road Entertainment, Stanton Group Holdings, Inetium, Arcadia Solutions, KTTB
FM (B-96) Radio Station (through Northern Lights Broadcasting, a holding company., and JB Hudson's Jewelers in the Twin Cities, as well as a controlling interest in PepsiAmericas
, the second largest bottling group in the United States.
. A few years later, in 1987
, the Twins won their first World Series
and would win the World Series again in 1991
. Pohlad claimed he was close to selling the Twins in 1997 to North Carolina
businessman Don Beave, who would have moved the team to the Piedmont Triad
area of the state. The defeat of a referendum
for a stadium in that area and a lack of interest in a move to Charlotte
killed the deal.
In 2001, he offered to sell the team for a reported $150 million to Major League Baseball as part of a contraction plan by the league, in effect eliminating the Twins.
Pohlad owned a part of the Minnesota Vikings
from the mid-1980s to 1991.
took over day-to-day operations of the Twins organization.
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
and the owner of the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
baseball franchise from 1984 (succeeding Calvin Griffith
Calvin Griffith
Calvin Robertson Griffith , born Calvin Robertson in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was a Major League Baseball team owner...
) until his death in 2009.
Early life
Carl Pohlad was born on August 23, 1915, to a poor Slovak family in Des Moines, IowaDes Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. He grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa
West Des Moines, Iowa
West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas, and Warren counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 46,403; a special census taken in the spring of 2005 counted 51,744 residents and the United States Census Bureau estimated that 53,889 residents lived there in...
and graduated from Valley High School in West Des Moines in 1934. He attended and played football for Compton Junior College in Southern California for a short time. Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
saw him play football and recruited him to play for his alma mater Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University
Gonzaga University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is named after the young Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga...
in Washington. Pohlad attended Gonzaga but dropped out after the football season of his senior year.
He was drafted to serve in WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
serving from 1943 to 1946. During his time in the service, he fought in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, spending some time in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Pohlad was scheduled to participate in the Normandy Invasion (D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
), but a case of Poison Oak
Poison oak
Poison oak may refer to* Toxicodendron diversilobum, grows on West Coast of North America* Toxicodendron pubescens, grows in the Eastern United Statesdamnnnnn tissss is terribleee...
kept him out of the invasion's early stages. He was wounded in battle, and was awarded the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
and a Bronze Star Medal
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
.
After the war he returned to Iowa, married Eloise O'Rourke Pohlad and later moved to Edina, Minnesota
Edina, Minnesota
Edina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
.
Pohlad's wife, Eloise, died in 2003. They had three sons during their 56-year marriage: James, Robert, and William, who all serve as Executive Board Members of the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
Career
Pohlad got his start in the banking business by foreclosing farms during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. After the Depression, he began investing in community banks. Over several decades, he built a banking empire. He bought deposits from The Midwest Federal Savings & Loan
Midwest Federal Savings & Loan
Midwest Federal Savings and Loan was an American bank headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Starting in the mid-1960s, its headquarters were located at 801 Nicollet Mall in what is now called the Midwest Plaza. Midwest Federal was in business for ninety-nine years until its failure in 1989. Its...
after its collapse in 1989. Eventually he sold his bank Marquette Bank
Marquette Bank Minneapolis
Marquette National Bank was chartered in 1920 and was named for Marquette Avenue, the financial center of Minneapolis, Minnesota.The bank was eventually acquired by Carl Pohlad and had $350 million in assets in 1982 when it acquired the failing Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank of Minneapolis and...
to Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
in 2002. In 2006 Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
ranked him tied for the 107th richest person in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with a net worth of 2.6 billion dollars.
Pohlad became president of the Twin City Rapid Transit
Twin City Rapid Transit
The Twin City Rapid Transit Company , also known as Twin City Lines , was a transportation company that operated streetcars, and buses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota...
(the Minneapolis St. Paul bus and streetcar company) saving it from Fred A. Ossanna (who was convicted in 1960 of illegally taking personal profit from the company). Pohlad was also the Vice President of Pohlad Companies, which owns several companies both large and small, including Marquette Financial Companies, United Properties, River Road Entertainment, Stanton Group Holdings, Inetium, Arcadia Solutions, KTTB
KTTB
KHTC is an American radio station in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. KHTC's nickname is "96.3 Now". The station airs a rhythmic contemporary music format and its main competition is KDWB-FM. The station is licensed to Edina, Minnesota.-Origins:...
FM (B-96) Radio Station (through Northern Lights Broadcasting, a holding company., and JB Hudson's Jewelers in the Twin Cities, as well as a controlling interest in PepsiAmericas
PepsiAmericas
PepsiAmericas, Inc. was the world's second-largest bottler of Pepsi-Cola products, and also contracted to produce beverages for Dr Pepper Snapple Group and smaller regional brands. PepsiAmericas had 19 bottling plants in the United States and had a presence in 11 countries in Central/Eastern...
, the second largest bottling group in the United States.
Minnesota sports
Pohlad purchased the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise in 19841984 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Detroit Tigers over San Diego Padres ; Alan Trammell, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Kirk Gibson*National League Championship Series MVP: Steve Garvey...
. A few years later, in 1987
1987 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Minnesota Twins over St. Louis Cardinals ; Frank Viola, MVP**American League Championship Series: Gary Gaetti, MVP**National League Championship Series: Jeff Leonard, MVP...
, the Twins won their first World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
and would win the World Series again in 1991
1991 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Minnesota Twins over Atlanta Braves ; Jack Morris, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Kirby Puckett*National League Championship Series MVP: Steve Avery...
. Pohlad claimed he was close to selling the Twins in 1997 to North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
businessman Don Beave, who would have moved the team to the Piedmont Triad
Piedmont Triad
The Piedmont Triad, or Triad, is a north-central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or "triad" of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the...
area of the state. The defeat of a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
for a stadium in that area and a lack of interest in a move to Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
killed the deal.
In 2001, he offered to sell the team for a reported $150 million to Major League Baseball as part of a contraction plan by the league, in effect eliminating the Twins.
Pohlad owned a part of the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
from the mid-1980s to 1991.
Death
Pohlad died of natural causes on January 5, 2009 at the age of 93. His funeral was held at the Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis. His son JimJim Pohlad
Jim Pohlad is the owner of the Minnesota Twins of the American League. Upon the death of his father, Carl Pohlad, on January 5th, 2009, he inherited ownership of the Twins franchise.-External links:*...
took over day-to-day operations of the Twins organization.